As a matter of policy, LINGUIST discourages the use of abbreviations
or acronyms in conference announcements unless they are explained in
the text. To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.

The general aim of the workshop 'Quantifiers and Modification' is to bring together researchers of different fields (syntax, semantics, logic) and thereby deepen our understanding of the role of modification in the diverse landscape of natural language expressions of quantity.

Extended call for papers

Quantifier Modification

is organised as part of the European Summer School on Logic, Language and Information ESSLLI 2007 http://www.cs.tcd.ie/esslli2007/ 6 - 17 August, 2007 in Dublin

From the eighties onwards, logicians and linguists have studied the properties of quantifying expressions by assigning them generalised quantifier meanings. While this line of research has been successful in isolating formal generalisations about the expression of quantity, it has ignored the internal composition of complex quantifiers.

Recently, the modificational structures within complex quantifiers have gained a fair amount of attention, mostly thanks to studies of a.o. modified numerals, negative and negated quantifiers, focus-sensitive operators, approximatives and except phrases. These studies yield a richer analysis of natural language quantifiers than was possible given the coarse level of generalisation of Generalised Quantifier Theory. Additionally, these studies shed light on the cross-categorial application of some modifiers.

Workshop Topics:

The theme of the workshop brings up questions like the following: - Is it tenable to retain a single analysis for any modifier? Or should its use within the domain of quantifiers be seen as separate? - What are the restrictions on the combinations of quantifiers and modifiers and what is the nature (semantic, syntactic or other) of these restrictions? - Is there cross-linguistic variation w.r.t. these restrictions? - What is the categorial status of a modified quantifier? - How do the formal properties of modifiers relate to the formal results familiar from generalised quantifier theory?

Submission details:

Authors are invited to submit an anonymous abstract describing completed research or work in progress contributing to the above mentioned issues and topics closely related to these. Submissions should not exceed 2 pages (12pt font, A4 or US-letter, 2.5cm (1inch) margins on all four sides). Abstracts should be formatted in PDF. Please send your submission electronically to both of the following email addresses: rick.nouwenlet.uu.nl, jakub.dotlacillet.uu.nl. The body of your mail should include the name of the author(s) and their affilitation(s), their addresses and the title of the paper. The deadline for submissions is March 23, 2007.

The submissions will be reviewed by the workshop's programme committee and additional reviewers. The accepted papers will appear in the workshop proceedings published by ESSLLI. The format for the final versions will be extended abstracts of maximally 6 pages.

Workshop format:

The workshop is part of ESSLLI and is open to all ESSLLI participants. It will consist of five 90-minute sessions held over five consecutive days in the first or second week of ESSLLI. There will be 2 slots for paper presentation and discussion per session. On the first day the workshop organisers will give an introduction to the topic.

Submissions: March 23, 2007 Notification: April 21, 2007 Preliminary programme: April 24, 2007 ESSLLI early registration: May 1, 2007 Final papers for proceedings: May 17, 2007 Final programme: June 21, 2007

Workshop dates: 13-17 August, 2007

Local Arrangements:

All workshop participants including the presenters will be required to register for ESSLLI. The registration fee for authors presenting a paper will correspond to the early student/workshop speaker registration fee.

For this workshop, there are up to two fee waiver grants available for authors who could otherwise not attend. If you think you are eligible for one of these waivers, please specify this along with your submission. The workshop organisers will decide who will receive the grants based on abstract quality and the motivation provided by the author.

Moreover, a number of additional fee waiver grants will be made available by the OC on a competitive basis and workshop participants are eligible to apply for those. There will be no reimbursement for travel costs and accommodation. Workshop speakers who have difficulty in finding funding should contact the local organising committee to ask for the possibilities for a grant.